Vettel wins as Hamilton roars back to fourth in Brazilian Grand Prix

Reuters Staff

4 Min Read

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Sebastian Vettel restored Ferrari pride with victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday while newly-crowned four-times world champion Lewis Hamilton produced the drive of the day from last to fourth for Mercedes.

FLAT OUT

“I had a very good getaway but then I had a bit of wheel spin so I thought I had missed my chance,” said Vettel of the key moment of the race.

”But I think Valtteri was struggling even more off the line so I was able to squeeze down the inside and I think I surprised him a little bit.

“After that we were pushing for the remaining laps flat out. I was trying everything to pull a bit of a gap and control the race from there.”

Dutch 20-year-old Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull, and set the fastest lap after a second stop for fresh tires, with Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo sixth after fighting back from a first lap collision and spin.

Slideshow (4 Images)

Retiring Brazilian Felipe Massa said farewell to his home crowd with seventh place for Williams, the former Ferrari driver then ushered onto the podium to be interviewed in front of the crowd by retired compatriot Rubens Barrichello.

“Last year I had so much love and emotion from the people, but I didn’t finish the race like I wanted,” said the Brazilian, who had retired in 2016 only to be summoned back when Bottas left for Mercedes to replace retired champion Nico Rosberg.

“Today I finished the race like I wanted. That’s why I did another year.”

Massa’s former Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso, who applauded the 36-year-old after they parked up, was eighth for McLaren.

Force India’s Sergio Perez was ninth and Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg, lapped by the leader, took the final point for Renault.

The safety car was deployed for three laps after Ricciardo, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen tangled at the start.

Haas’s Romain Grosjean and Force India’s Esteban Ocon also collided at turn six, with the latter suffering his first single seater retirement since 2014.

”I knew this day would come at some stage, but I wasn’t expecting it to be today,“ said Ocon. ”There was nothing I could do... he made a mistake and I suffered from it.

“Days like this happen but I hope it will be another three years before it happens again.”

Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Christian Radnedge